Aliens: Colonial Marines is a first-person shooter that takes place chronologically after the film Alien 3.
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Story & Themes
As an official piece of canon in the Alien franchise, Aliens: Colonial Marines takes place 17 weeks after the events of Alien 3. Players assume the role of Corporal Christopher T. Winter, a marine sent with a group of others to investigate the USS Sulaco, the ship which serves as the setting in Aliens. After the marines arrive in the USS Sephora, the xenomorphs launch an attack, destroying the ship and stranding the survivors in the Hadley's Hope ruins.
One of the marines, Private Bella, is found to be infected with a xenomorph embryo when the Sephora's android Bishop scans her, so Winter takes her to the nearby Weyland-Yutani facilities to remove it. When this proves impossible, Private Bella dies as the xenomorph reaches maturity and escapes from its human host. An attack is launched on the research facilities to recover a ship with an FTL drive, and the Colonial Marine captain Cruz gives up his life in the process of destroying the xenomorph queen living on the ship. Winter and his fellow marines kill a man they believe to be Weyland but who is in actuality an android. Bishop connects to Weyland's processor, gaining the information on it and setting the stage for a conflict between the marines and Weyland-Yutani.
Heads Up!
Violence In addition to using guns and ranged weapons, players can also face human and alien enemies in close-quarters, melee combat. Blood, gore, and dismemberment are all featured in moments of fighting, while cutscenes depict a human being impaled as well as an alien bursting from a human's chest.
Scary Imagery The aliens are creepy and potentially scary due to their appearance and deadliness, but the game is primarily a shooter and not a work of survival horror.
Strong Language Characters utter words like f*ck and sh*t.
Consumerism The game is part of a massive franchise with tie-ins to other franchises, though there's no actual consumerism in-game.
Online Community
Aliens: Colonial Marines includes an optional multiplayer mode. For consoles, this campaign can be played either locally or online, but PC users can only play online.
Conversation Starters
- Do you think Aliens: Colonial Marines does the Alien franchise justice? Should it be canon?
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